Social factors influence ‘metabolic syndrome’ risk around menopause

By Kathryn Doyle (Reuters Health) – For women in midlife, risk factors for heart disease and diabetes tend to become more common, and social factors may influence who is most vulnerable to developing them, a new study from Korea suggests. Body fat around the waist, higher blood pressure, high blood sugar and abnormal cholesterol levels are all features of so-called metabolic syndrome, which in turn raises a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and even some cancers, researchers note in the journal Menopause. Based on following 1,200 healthy Korean women for an average of four years, researchers at Yonsei University in Seoul and Hallym University in Chuncheon found that body weight, exercise levels, education level and income predicted which ones were most likely to develop metabolic syndrome near the menopausal transition.